First Contact
by swaggers
Summary: My version of how Faith meets Jacknife. bits of fluff will eventually get thrown in, all in Faith's POV. Maybe a few surprise characters. I dunno, surprises to come. Also explains why Jacknife left, better than my first story, for sure.
1. First Contact

Its been a week since Merc's found me. He's been trying to make me a runner, but I'm not really impressed. I mean, sure you get to dodge bullets and jump across rooftops, which sounds fun, but for what? To be a stupid mail carrier? It seems pointless. Runner's aren't really dangerous to me. I mean, if they were doing more, then maybe I'd join.

But anyways, Merc's still trying to impress me. Today he said he was going to show me some of the runners that worked here.

But then again, he said there was someone he didn't want me to meet. Saying that only makes me more curious. I'm kind of anxious to meet everyone, but... at the same time I don't want to be rejected.

"Hey, Merc,"

"Yea?"

"Exactly, what are the rest of the runners like?" Merc went silent for a second. "Well, you'd expect that since their all runners, they'd all think alike, and have a similar personality, but everybody thinks differently. There's really no way to actually describe them all as a group."

"OK, but lets say I joined. Who would I be working with? Mainly?"

"No too many people, Celeste, Kreeg and... and..."

"And?"

"Unfortunately, the one person I want you to avoid."

Wow, by the way Merc says it, I'm not sure he likes this runner. Now I really wanna meet him. As I was thinking about what that person could be like, three runners dropped in through that manhole at the top of the AC cooling tower. One was a blonde girl with a red top and some tight black jeans and black converse, Another was a dark skinned man with a yellow T-shirt and green pants and the last... well,

He was the most handsome man I've ever seen. Short, spiked hair, nice long tattoo that was right next to his eye and went down into his shirt, blue shirt with a leather jacket. The jacket had a few strips of blue on the back and arms, and black pants with some black and blue boots. His eye color matched the blue in his outfit.

After a moment or two, I realized I was staring at him. I looked away, embarrassed even though his attention wasn't on me. Merc stood up and introduced me to everyone.

"Faith, this young lady is Celeste, This is Kreeg and this is..."

"Jacknife. Jack for short." He reached out to shake my hand. I grabbed it and shook his hand. I looked up to see him shoot me a nice smile. Merc gave him an evil look and he backed away from me. "Alright, Celeste, Kreeg, you guys can get back to work. Jacknife, I wanna talk to you." Celeste and Kreeg left the AC tower and left me, Jack, and Merc alone.

"Faith, lemme explain why you should avoid this guy." Merc said with his arms folded. His tone was that fatherly tone, that a girl gets after she brings home a guy who she wants to be her boyfriend. "Jacknife is known for a very flirtatious attitude with women, and playing around during work time." Jack rolled his eyes and plopped down right next to me.

"Yea, so what Merc. For crying out loud, I'm seventeen." His tone seemed a bit mature for a seventeen year old. But no wonder Merc wants me to avoid him. He's only a year older than me. Plus, I'm pretty sure he thinks teenagers are spoiled brats who just wanna hang out with their friends and their partner.

"Hey, Merc?"

"Yea, Faith?"

"I wanna join now. I think this'll be a good thing for me." I gave Merc a nice smile, the first he's ever gotten from me, and probably the last he'll get. The only reason I wanted to join was to be around Jacknife. He's not too rude for a seventeen year old. Merc nodded. "We'll have training tomorrow, and you can decide who's gonna train you."

I get to decide? Man, this gets better by the second.


	2. Second Chance

I asked Merc if I could have Jacknife train me, just to see how he was, and he said yes. I'm a bit surprised that he let me, on account of what he said. I'm going to training with him tomorrow, so hopefully, I'll find something to do within the wait.

Anyways, I was sitting on that small piece of furniture that Merc calls a couch when Jack drops in and plops down next to me.

"Hey watch it! There isn't enough room here for you AND me!"

"Well, I thought you might be OK with a limited amount of space, I mean didn't you live in a box before?" I looked away feeling embarrassed, and Jacknife did the same. Or looked guilty.

"I'm.. I'm sorry.. I didn't mean to-"

"Its fine." I smiled at him, almost touched him if I didn't have any self control. We both went silent, we didn't know what to say. Thankfully, Merc dropped in with relatively good news.

"Hey, everyone else is out on runs, so I need Faith to do this run as soon as possible. Jacknife, I know this is your break, but you need to get out and train her." I was so excited about this, but I couldn't show it because I didn't want Jacknife seeing my serious emotions.

Jacknife let out a big sigh and led me to the training grounds. The place just looked like a couple rooftops, but after a good look, I realized there were things set up to make it sort of like a playground. It was smart, actually. Jacknife grabbed me by my wrist and pulled me to an area on the rooftop we were standing on so I could get a way better look.

"Wow, this is... Gosh, I'm speechless."

"And you get to train here. Only probably is, you gotta learn it the first time or else..."

"I'm OK with it." I smiled at Jacknife, and he did the same. He moved his hand in that 'follow me' motion. He leaped off of the rooftop and I did the same. After a while, I was getting really good at it.

"Hey, you're great at running, but can you fight?" Jack asked me. I smirked at him and said, "Do you wanna find out?" He grinned and grabbed my arm. He bent it backwards a bit, and I said, "Is that all you got? Gimme your best." He almost broke my arm, but I wanted to impress him, so I used my other arm and tossed him onto the ground. He smiled at me from there, and hopped back up. He grabbed me and jabbed his knee into my stomach. I cringed from the pain a bit, but I still fought it and tried throwing him to the ground again. Instead, we spun around, until I hit a wall and Jacknife pressed up against me. We were smiling and laughing until we realized what actually happened. I pushed him away without thinking, and walked from him.

"Whats wrong?" He asked as if he wasn't just pressed to me. "Well, you were kinda on my body, and we just met..." He smiled at me and pushed me up against the wall again. But this time, his face was so close to mine.. I could almost taste him on my tongue. Our lips nearly met before he spoke. "It doesn't matter. I know you like me." He pushed his lips to mine and soon shoved his tongue into my mouth. I could feel it swishing in my mouth, dancing with my own. A moan slipped from my mouth and into his ears. He pulled away and smiled at me.

"Ah, that was nice." Jacknife said, beaming at me. I couldn't show how interested I was in him. I just couldn't, I didn't want to do the wrong thing. "Listen to me, Faithy. I know you're really interested in me. I can see it in your eyes." He stared right into my eyes, and I had no other choice but to do the same. "Let me have it." He pushed his lips to mine again, deepening our kiss. It felt really nice.

"Jacknife, can we stop? This makes me feel guilty." Jacknife wrapped his arms around my back as I looped my arms around his neck and rested my head on his shoulder. "Thank you. I needed a nice break."

"From what? You haven't started running!" He said, making me laugh a bit. I felt good. For once, there was someone I could relate to.

He might be the someone I was looking for in life.

* * *

"That's when Merc found me." Jacknife nodded at my short story. His hand lightly touched my cheek. I started to turn red. It was pretty obvious. Jacknife saw it. He removed his hand from my cheek and looked away. My face returned its normal pigment and I looked down at how close his leg was to mine. This couch didn't have any room at all. If I was any closer to Jacknife I would be sitting on his lap.

"So, what about you? Did you find Merc or.." I asked Jacknife. He thought for a moment. "Well, lets just say I was nearly trampled on by a giant gorilla thing named a Merc-ur-y." I laughed. Merc was a really big guy, and I can imagine that he was nearly run over by him. "I was coming home from school. About two years ago. I just realized that I failed every class in school and my dad was gonna kill me. Merc could see I was in a bad mood, so he wanted to cheer me up. And the one thing I always wanted was to become a runner. So, he trained me."

"Interesting." He smiled at me, and right that moment, Merc dropped in again and tossed me a yellow bag.

"What's this?"

"Runner's bag, you got to go and deliver a message." I sighed. "OK, Merc." He handed me a comm link and I jumped out of the AC tower. I ran from rooftop to rooftop, panicking every time I hopped over a large gap. I stopped after a few jumps, to look at what the city has become. I heard Merc yelling in my ear for me to continue running, but somehow I blocked it out and ignored him.

I still remember what the city was like when I was a kid. Perfect. Now I see that everything's changed and, well, its all different. Ever since the November Riots... The whole city changed, my whole life changed.

Mom...

Suddenly, I heard bullets whizzing past my ears and I heard Merc yelling. I instantly remembered where to run, and I got there, so fast I felt like I was light. When I got back, Merc was gone and Jacknife and I were alone again.

"You could've gotten shot you know."

"I know, I know, I was just..."

"Just?"

"Just thinking about how much the city changed." Jacknife nodded. "It has changed. I hate the city now." He stood up from the couch and looked at me. "But, I guess if it never changed I wouldn't be a runner." He walked out of the AC cooling tower and left me standing alone in the big hollow space.

Alone with my thoughts.


	3. Third Appearance

The thought of Jacknife drove me insane. Every day I thought of him. I couldn't stop.

He didn't come around often. Merc didn't have him scheduled for several runs. He was a part time runner. God knows what he does with his other time.

I saw him yesterday when I was on a run. He was by some restaurant. As much as I wanted to say hi, I didn't want to blow his cover or mine.

Anyways, today I spotted him staring past the rooftop near Merc's lair. He looked like he was in a daze. I had nothing better to do so I went to talk to him.

"Hi, Jacknife. Hey about a week ago, when.."

"We met?" He said. Then I remembered. He never trained me. I was having a dream. Jacknife wasn't there it was Merc. I wish he had trained me though.

"Uh, nevermind." I said, looking away a bit embarrassed. Jack could see my embarrassment I knew. He put his hand to my shoulder and turned my body so I was looking at him. "You were talking in your sleep. The day before you were trained."

"I... I was?"

"Yea. And I think it's pretty obvious now.."

"What's pretty obvious?"

"How you feel." He said, walking to the center of the rooftop. "About me." He turned to me and smirked a bit. I could feel myself blushing but I couldn't control my thoughts any more. My mind started to drift and I felt Jacknife pull me to the center of the rooftop, where he was.

"Beautiful city, only when the sun sets though."

"Yea. A corrupt city is so beautiful." I said rather sarcastically. Jacknife laughed a bit and kept his hands on my shoulders as we both stared out into the sky. I let my mind wander, and I soon felt something warm touching my neck. I looked over to see Jacknife kissing my neck with his warm lips.

"Jack I-"

"No speaking." He said as he turned me so I could face him. He then dove in for the side of my neck. I could barely move, but I moved my neck to the side so Jacknife had more skin to kiss. His warm lips on the side of my neck felt amazing. He moved to my collar bone then back up to my neck and right below my chin. I let a moan escape me and it filled Jacknife with pleasure. He brought his lips to mine. I could feel his tongue dancing with mine, swishing and swirling in my mouth. It felt so nice, I never wanted this feeling to end.

Jacknife removed his lips from mine and I nearly dropped to my knees. Jacknife grabbed me and didn't remove his arms from my ribs. "Thought you could escape me?" He said, his voice full of sarcasm. He was playing, but I wasn't. It's like if his lips weren't touching mine, I couldn't move, or breathe.

My breath was shallow. I could barely look at Jack without falling. He tried to hold me and kiss me at the same time, but he couldn't get a good enough kiss. He fell to his knees and so did I, moaning and crying. I shoved my tongue into his mouth and let it swish with his. I couldn't move, I couldn't breathe. Jack pulled away from me for a second but dove right back in. He fell on his back with me on top of him. His hands slid from my back to my waist then to my backside. I let out a load moan and pushed myself to his lips. His grip on me became stronger. I couldn't take it.

I eventually pulled myself away. I rolled onto my back right next to Jack, in the same position as him.

"Faith," He panted.

"Yea?"

"I... I'm sorry."

"For what?" I asked, getting up to look at Jacknife. _"He didn't think the kiss... the kisses... were a mistake did he?"_

"I couldn't control myself. This was a mistake." He stood up, dusted himself up, and disappeared in the night.

"The last thing I wanted him to say." I said to myself.

* * *

**_Wow this chapter was hard to write. I kept trying to make romance, but gosh, romance is HARD! Yea, the previous chapter was a dream. Fooled ya. XD OK uh, hopefully I will get an idea of how to make the next chapter. Sorry this took some time to upload. _**


	4. Fourth Issue

After what happened yesterday, I've been pretty shaken up. I have no idea of how Jacknife feels for me now. I'm starting to wonder if he's just a people pleaser.

I've been dying to ask him, but he hasn't been around. I don't know what happened to him, and to be honest it's kind of worrying me.

"Hey, kiddo," Merc said to me, while I was on the couch resting.

"Yea?"

"How come you've been so quiet? Something on yer mind?"

I paused. _"How do I explain to Merc that I broke the runner rules? Will he forgive me? I don't want to run for Jack, I want to run for my life."_

"Merc, I... I have a confession to make."

"OK... go ahead and spill the beans," He said, kind of with an upset tone.

_"You big dummy, don't tell him! Tell him nevermind!"_

_"Nooo... He should know,"_

_"NO he shouldn't he will KILL you BURN your ashes and BURY them in the couch so he has something to laugh at!"_

_"I'm gonna tell him."_

_"Oh, PLEASE don't,"_

"Merc, I fell in love with Jacknife." Merc's face went from upset to blank. I swear I drained the color from his face. It's like the whole world froze around me. I think even the birds stopped chirping and a fly stopped buzzing when I broke the ice.

"Merc, I can understand that-"

"No, Faith, no excuses. You're-"

"Wait, PLEASE don't fire me! I want to be a runner!"

"Then why did you break the rules?"

"First, I broke A rule, and second, I just fell in love with Jacknife... so far in love..."

"Right, OK. so you expect everything to be all fine now?"

_"What do I say to this? That is EXACTLY what I expect!"_

"No, I just want to be a runner, and I know I spoiled the opportunity and all but-"

"NOO, you're fi-"

"Wait, Merc! Please, don't fire me!" I was on my knees in front of him now, my hands gripping his pants, begging him not to fire me. I think a tear even fell from my eye. Merc was just disagreeing with every one of my thoughts.

"I bet you even agreed to become a runner because of him, huh?"

"YES!" I screamed, tears pouring from my eyes. "Yes, I did! I saw love at first sight and that was the only time that happened to me! You HAVE to understand I'm a teenager, Merc, please don't fire me!" I could barely think anymore, barely breathing, and I was pretty much paralyzed.

"OK, Faith." He knelt down to me and gave me a hug. "I understand. I'll give you another chance."

"Thank.. you... Merc." I sobbed quietly. I'm just glad that there is someone that understands.

* * *

The next day, I felt a lot better. Merc sent me out on a few runs, I had a donut for lunch and got a good night's rest. I was enjoying my day until someone came and ruined it.

"Faith." A voice said behind me. I turned to see Jacknife. "What is it, Jack,"

"Listen to my words, because I do not repeat." He sat down on the rooftop next to me.

"Jacknife, if you didn't mean what you said-"

"Faith, I don't need you. You're love and time is completely pointless to me. I don't want you OK? But after hearing your story about your life I just... Look, I'm just a people pleaser and I don't like hurting people's feelings... and you seemed like a nice person so I was nice to you OK?"

What do I say to this? Or do I say anything at all?

"So you don't like me at all? Not even a little bit? I mean-"

"No, Faith I said that already. I don't love you not a little bit! Look I don't wanna be around you anymore! Don't you get that?"

"But-"

"Oh, for crying out loud, I don't need you Faith! I don't want you either! Please just stay out of my life." Jacknife walked away from me, his face covered with a strong emotion of hatred of anger. I was just sitting on the rooftop, trying to process my thoughts and think about what just happened.

_"So every bad thought I have always comes true huh?"_

"He didn't love me..." I couldn't believe the words that came out of my mouth. All I wanted to do was explode. But I can't do that, I promised Merc I would stay a runner and I would forget about Jacknife... or did I?

Either way, I want to be loyal to Merc.. He's like a father I never had. To lose him is like a repeat of what already happened and I don't want that.

* * *

"Hey, Merc,"

"Yea?"

"Can I talk to you about something?"

"Sure," He said, turning in his rolling chair to face me. "What's up?"

"Merc... Jacknife talked to me today and, he said he didn't love me. But.. we... when he kissed me... we were both into it I don't understand why he said that he doesn't..." I couldn't get any more words out without dropping tears. Merc could see my sadness and how much it hurt me.

"Faith, guys don't like saying that they love you. And Jacknife, he knows he's gonna be in trouble if he admits that."

"So he was saying that for his sake?"

"Exactly. You should probably just let him go."

* * *

_**OK OK, not long I know but at least it didn't take me fifty years! Hope you enjoyed, story isn't gonna be much longer.**_


	5. Fifth Diversion

_I'm so confused. He loves me- no he doesn't... he..._

"Hey, kiddo, what's with the long pause? What you staring at a bird or somethin'?"

"N-no... sorry Merc. Umm... can I take a break after this run?"

"Yea sure, after this run."

"Ok, Merc. OK." I finished the run, but it took me linger than usual. That was strange to me because runs never take me an hour.

But now that I think about it, I _did_ stop every few minutes to ponder over some thoughts. Jacknife was recking my nerves and my brain... I have to figure out what to do.

"Hey, Merc... about Jack..."

"Yea?"

"Where... is he?"

"On a run, why ya ask?"

"I think we should talk."

"Faith you know he probably won't listen..."

"I know," I said, taking a harsh breath, "I know."

"Ya want me to leave when he comes back?"

"If you can, please." I said. I didn't feel normal. Something inside me was nicer... nice. I don't know why, I guess since Jacknife had been so... harsh it forced me to change. No, I thought I needed to change. For him.

"Hey, Mercs, got another run for me?"

"Nah, Jack, I need you to stay here, I'll be back in a sec." Merc opened the door and left. One of the rare things I ever saw him do.

"J-Jack... 'nife?"

"What do you want from me, Faith." Jacknife's face looked serious; serious and sensitive. _He doesn't want to talk to me... not now not ever. _

"Can I talk to you... for a second?"

"About?"

"About... ya know..."

"Faith, I don't wanna talk about that." Jacknife couldn't look at me for a second. "Jacknife, please, I just need to get this off my chest."

Jacknife laughed a bit. I know why, too. And ya know, I don't care how stupid he thought I was, I loved him. Wait, did that make sense?

"Faithy, Faithy, Faithy," He started off. "You gotta understand when something is over. Heck, we weren't even together."

"I understand that we're not together, Jacknife." I said. I knew we weren't together, I meant it when I said that. "What I don't understand is why you even messed with me in the first place." I blinked and suddenly my vision blurred. I felt a hot stream of tears going down my face. I shifted my attention to Jack without wiping my tears.

"Faith, I... I..." Jacknife looked confused, even through a blurry vision. Finally, he let go of any control he had and... hugged me?

"I'm sorry. Honest." I thought for a minute. Sorry about what? He's not sorry. I know he isn't. I pushed him away from me and finally I could see clearly again.

"Faith?"

"Don't even play me like that."

"What're you-"

"Don't act like you're serious Jacknife. Just don't. You're messing with me and I know it." Jacknife wiped his sincere look off of his face and stood back up with that serious, ignorant, sensitive face. "So what if I was. Big deal. You're already slacking on your job, Faith, it's too late. You'll never get back to where you was, Faithy."

"That doesn't matter." I said through clenched teeth, standing up gripping my hair with my hands.

"Aw, is someone angry?" Jacknife said in a little kiddie voice making his eyes large and 'cute' I guess you could say.

"Agh, Jacknife! I HATE you!" I ran out of the building through the door and right into Merc. "M-Merc I-"

"It's ok, kiddo." Merc embraced me into a bear hug. I hated hugs, but for some reason this hug Merc gave me made me feel so much better. I couldn't help but start to cry.

"I let him go Merc. I did."

"Proud of ya, kiddo. Proud of ya."

* * *

**_Sorry about the short and kinda boring chapter, but I couldn't make this much longer. My dad blocked the website so I couldn't get on so obviously I couldn't write (duh) Really sorry, next chapter won't be long._**


	6. Sixth Consequence

"First thing's first, Faith," Merc started off. "Getting rid of Jack."

"'Kay," I said to Merc while enjoying a good book. "You gonna fire him?"

"Not quite sure yet."

"Really?"

"No, Faith, I'm gonna fire him." Merc smiled at me. "You don't need another distraction for yourself."

I nodded. I completely agreed; Jacknife was a distraction. I surely didn't need him. Besides, I could always find a better guy.

Just then, Jacknife walked in holding Celeste by her waist. I almost gagged.

"Hey, Merc, can we take a day off?"

"You can take all the time off in the world Jacknife. You're fired." Celeste's face turned pale. "Merc, you can't do this!"

"No, Cel." Jacknife said. His face turned from serious and "in love" to depressed. "It's OK, I deserved it."

"No, no you don't!" Celeste screamed with tears pouring down her face. I couldn't stand to see Jack. He's such an evil person. To think he would play me and then Celeste? Pure evil.

"Calm down, Cel. It's nothing to get all psyched out about."

"Yea, Cel." I said standing up. "I mean not to mention he doesn't ACTUALLY love you."

"Yes he does, Faith." Celeste said to me through clenched teeth. "You're just upset because nobody will ever love you."

That hurt me. What if she was right? That one thing she said hit me hard.

"Yur crossing the line Cel." I said, my eyebrows so low on my face they were almost on top of my eyes. "I don't see a line." She said. Merc got up from his chair.

"Jacknife, get out. Celeste I suggest you watch your attitude before you leave too."

"Who says I have to listen to you Merc? I can do what I want."

"Jacknife you son of a-"

"Faith!"

"What Merc he deserves it!" I screamed. I was ready to let him have it. I can't stand him anymore.

"Aw, is this really coming from the same girl who cried because she can't have moi?"

"WHAT?" Celeste screamed. That dumb blonde was getting on my last nerve. "Faith you'll NEVER get a hold of him! Never you hear me?"

I lost all self control and punched Cel in her mouth. In her disgusting, dirty mouth. Her mouth was bleeding, I think and she was crying a little. My eyes became enlarged and I looked at my hand I punched her with. I glanced to see Merc and Jack staring at me with widened eyes.

_What did I just do..._

"Faith..." Jacknife started, but not being able to finish because of the tears in his eyes. He was about to cry I saw it. "I-I'm sorry. And this time I mean it."

"No.." I whispered in a low voice. "You punched her, Faith. In her mouth." I looked over to Cel, who was crying. He's right. Celeste ran to the bathroom, either to cry or to wash her mouth, or both. "I-"

"Faith... I never meant to hurt you so... much... Honest." Jacknife looked at me now, and his face was serious. Full of sorrow. Jacknife covered his face with his sleeve and ran out of the AC cooling tower. He was being honest now.

Celeste came out of the bathroom. "Sorry, Faith. Y-you were right. Jacknife's not in love with me... 'M sorry about what I said..."

"Don't worry about it." I said. "Sorry 'bout punching you in the mouth.."

"It's OK, I deserved it." Cel tried to wear a fake smile, but I knew she wasn't for real. Merc stood up and wrapped his arm around the both of us.

"Things'll get better. And one day, Jacknife will die and we'll throw a party."

"Man, I can't wait til that happens." I said. Cel and Merc laughed. Things would get better. Just like Merc said.

* * *

_"Hello, Faith."_

_"Jacknife. How could you-"_

_"Attitudes like that! Well that's exactly how I could."_

_I stared hard and cold at him. The gun was pressed to Kate's head. "Why us? We're no threat!" _

_An evil grin spread on his face. With a leap, he was in the helicopter. _

_"You can't survive on the edge forever, Faithy. Sometimes you have to jump."_

_A leap to the helicopter and I kicked him off. Jacknife was gone. Forever. Kate was safe now. She was safe..._

_

* * *

_

"Hey, kiddo, new recruit I want ya to train."

"He or she?" I said, walking to the couch with an apple in my mouth.

"He. Think you can handle him?"

"Sure. I can take him." I stood up and stretched.

"Kevin, meet Faith." And I couldn't believe it. He was hot. Smokin' hot. He looked like an angel from above. His stomach muscles were fierce and they showed through his shirt. I bet they taste like cupcakes.

"Hi, Faith." Such a heavenly voice. "So, uh, when's training gonna start?"

"Now, if you can keep up." I said and ran to the training grounds. I can't wait 'til I get a piece of that.

* * *

**_ Story is OVA! How was the ending? Good bad? Don't know? Bleh, no matter. The story was too short I know, but I thought this was a lovely way to end it. (lovely...) Not sure if I should sequel or not (NOT) but I need something to busy me so... uh... wut?_**

**_Btw, the part where Faith kills Jacknife (End of game) is actually a part in the future, it didn't happen it was just showing when Faith would rid Jacknife from the face of the Earth like planned. _**

**_Whatever, stories over blah blah, nothin' else to say. ;) see ya later_**

**_~Swaggers_**


End file.
